FIFA’s 2022 World Cup may be 48 teams – Infantino

3 months ago

FIFA should if possible increase the size of the
football World Cup in Qatar in 2022 to 48 from 32 teams, the global governing
body’s president Gianni Infantino has said. Last month, Infantino said a
majority of national football federations were in favour of expanding the
tournament and a decision was expected ahead of the qualifying draw in March.

Infantino, speaking at a sports conference on
Wednesday, also said FIFA was seeing whether it would be possible for some of
Qatar’s Gulf neighbours to host some of the matches. He said last month that it
would be “difficult” to stage an expanded tournament in Qatar alone.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain
and Egypt launched a diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar in June 2017 which
has complicated the prospect of sharing the tournament. The countries accuse
Qatar of supporting terrorism.| However, the tiny but wealthy Arab nation has
since denied this. FIFA voted in 2017 to increase the size of the tournament
from 32 to 48 teams, starting from 2026. But, since then, Infantino has been
mulling the possibility of bringing the change forward to 2022. “If you think
it’s a good thing to have 48 teams in the World Cup, why not try four years
before. That’s why we are analysing whether it’s possible to have 48 teams
already in 2022,” Infantino said. “The World Cup will take place in Qatar with
32 teams. Obviously, if we can increase it to 48 teams and make the world
happy, we should try it.”

Qatar said it would not take a final decision on the
tournament expansion until it has seen details of a feasibility study from
FIFA. The study is expected to discuss aspects of scheduling, the number of
required venues, training sites, and how many games per day would be played
under an expanded format. Qatar has moved ahead with ambitious plan to scale up
infrastructure ahead of the 2022 tournament that includes $6 billion to $8
billion on eight stadiums and sporting facilities. “If we can accommodate some
of the neighbouring countries in the gulf region, which are very close by, to
host a few games in the World Cup this could be very beneficial for the region
and the entire world,” Infantino added.

“There is tension in this particular region and it’s
up to their respective leaders to deal with that. But maybe it’s easier to talk
about a joint football project than more complicated things. “If it can help
all the people in the Gulf and all the countries in the world develop football
and bring a positive message to the world about football, then you should give
it a try.”